Auto-Enrolment - Richard Lishman

By 2018 all employers must by law offer a workplace pension scheme for employees aged between 22 and the pension age and who earn £10,000 or over.

All businesses will have been allocated ‘staging dates’ that the Auto-Enrolment must have been accomplished by, and for dental practices this is likely to be between January 2015 and April 2017. This may seem like a long time away but in order to be properly set up and ready for the transition it is worth preparing for Auto-Enrolment as soon as possible.

According to The Pensions Regulator website, businesses should begin to plan for Auto-Enrolment at least 12 months before their staging date and by six months before should have the chosen pension scheme in place and their staff clearly informed[1].

Any employers who do not enrol their staff into a pension scheme by their staging date will face a fixed penalty fine of £400. If they continue to ignore their responsibilities they will begin to receive daily fines ranging from £50 to £10,000 a day.

It should be noted that workplace pensions schemes are not compulsory for employees; although everyone will eventually be enrolled, employees can opt out if they choose to. Despite the Government’s best efforts to convince the public to save for their futures, it is still estimated that millions will decide to opt out of saving.

For practices, choosing the best pension scheme to enrol your employees into can be particularly complicated, as it’s important that you choose the right one that is appropriate both to you and your employees’ needs. The most common schemes used will be Defined Contribution schemes; where both the employee and the employer make contributions to the fund, which is then invested.

Your practice may already have a pension scheme set up for your staff; this might be a stakeholder scheme or a group personal pension scheme and in some cases you will be able to continue to use this, depending on its suitability and whether or not the provider states that it can be used for Auto-Enrolment.

The best course of action at this stage will be to consult an Independent Financial Adviser (IFA), ideally one with specialist knowledge of the dental sector such as those at money4dentists. They will be able to help you decide which option is most suited to your needs and situation, ensure that all timelines are met. If you’re looking for straightforward guidance and advice around starting the journey into Auto-Enrolment then contact the experienced and reliable IFAs at money4dentists today.

For more information please call 0845 345 5060, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or visit www.money4dentists.com